Boxcar Sunday, Let's see your boxcars.

An Atlas scale 40’ boxcar painted by me in the Lackawanna scheme. I removed the bolsters and installed 3 rail trucks…

Tom

Tom, beautiful job on the Lackawanna boxcar. (But, maybe I’m slightly biased…😄).

Thanks Artie! We root for the same team! Lol.

Tom

Hello BxCarSun folks, just getting started today - a little late but hey who cares, Im retired!...

Don Winslow - I have never seen the "waffle side" boxcars before...what number series are they for Lionel or MPC? or ??

OK for today, I have some "rare" finds...rare only because I just found them while rummaging through some storage boxes for something else  (think "Raiders of the Lost Ark") they are old enough to not be common especially the second one

The first is a rather conventional, Southern Pacific boxcar by K-line.  I like the great contrast between the body color and the white lettering and the added flair (although I have no idea if its prototypical) of the yellow stripe across the door.  In general these early K-line cars seem very similar to the mold for the Marx "deluxe" boxcars with opening doors, perhaps these did come from some of the dies that K-line got when Marx closed.  Nice running car though and its short length works well on my small lay out.  This car was made in 1993 so almost 30 years ago.

Here he is behind my PRR "BEEP" switcher.

I i

Well best wishes to all, enjoy your upcoming week.

Don

super vintage  don't know what it is automobile boxcar

                                                      #2049...

@SIRT posted:

                                                      #2049...

Really well done SIRT.............but what are we looking at........turnips , kohlrabi , onions or peeled potatoes ?

My new Natty Bo reffer by Atlas O pre-ordered from Mr. Muffin in late April 2020 ... arrived a couple weeks ago.   National Bohemian Beer was/is a Baltimore brewed beer.  

Did a first run of four MTH premier 40’ boxcars in a PRR scheme for GRJ. Stripped and painted with Scalecoat II and K4 decals. Don’t mind the dog hairs on the rooves…it wasn’t included….

Another six are in the paint shop now…

Tom

I also did a lowering job on a scale Atlas boxcar. I removed the bolsters and mounted MTH 3 rail trucks to get a better appearance. This car was a custom car from a small company called “Springer”…

Tom

Don - to the best of my knowledge Lionel's "waffle side" cars first appeared in 1995 as a "new issue". They seem to have the same frame and truck assembly as the popular 6464 cars and add some variety to a fleet of traditional size rolling stock.

This BNSF car is the latest addition to my collection.

Don - thanks for the data, I will check my catalogs to see if I can find them.  I really like the way they look

Don

@Krieglok posted:

Did a first run of four MTH premier 40’ boxcars in a PRR scheme for GRJ. Stripped and painted with Scalecoat II and K4 decals. Don’t mind the dog hairs on the rooves…it wasn’t included….

Another six are in the paint shop now…

Tom

I also did a lowering job on a scale Atlas boxcar. I removed the bolsters and mounted MTH 3 rail trucks to get a better appearance. This car was a custom car from a small company called “Springer”…

Tom

That lucky GRJ.............really great looking work Tom 🤓

Well hello BcCrSun folks, here it is on Halloween and so we all should be anticipating candy right?  Well I guess, I'm going to have to make do with a box car instead.  Today its one of my favorites, as I love the "CP" livery, color, and design.  However this box car came in several designs and color schemes so this is not the only Lionel MPC CP boxcar you may encounter.  This fellow is from 1974-76 so he is an early MPC from one of their first series post the original Lionel Corp 6464 series.  The first series was 9200 and this was the second.

Here is the end detail and the data side.

Here is the opposite side with the CP livery, brakewheel, and end ladders.

Here he is with his original, "window" box

Well "Happy Halloween" everyone...get ready to pass out the candy!!

Best wishes

Don

Here are 3 boxcars.  The boxcars in the top two photos I will weather for a client. As a matter of fact they've already received their first coat of Dullcote.  

The bottom photos shows a boxcar, a WP by Weaver, is a car I picked up yesterday at Engine House Hobbies in Gaithersburg, Md. for a real good price.  This car is on my weathering schedule, however, I will get the client cars completed first.  

Early Atlas O CNJ boxcar.  Well detailed.  

Weaver rounded roof GN boxcar.  I love Weaver cars!  

Weaver WP boxcar I picked up at a train shop yesterday for a good price.  

Great looking cars. The round top is very interesting. All the paint schemes are sharp.

The old 2 rail Atlas boxcars are great. I have picked up a few recently. I lowered them a little, at the bolsters, added weight and installed three rail trucks. The detail is great on them.

Weaver cars are my favorite cats to paint and decal. I was lucky to find a number of them in undecorated form. I install diecast trucks and couplers on mine. The truck and coupler sets are getting harder to find, unfortunately…

Tom

added Kadees to this one today;

thanks!

...So much for a quiet Sunday

...like a lot of people, the yard crew at the main yard in Oblivion was looking forward to an extra hour of sleep this morning courtesy of the end of daylight savings.  As a result they put in a major effort all through Saturday and well into Saturday evening.  Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten a few things wrong.

  The first person to note something was amiss was the engine crew member in the Doghouse of the big mill backing down on Track #3.  Track #3 was supposed to have a 100 car drag ready for a westbound move at 8 AM.  Instead of a ready drag the only thing on Track #3 is two boxcars; a PRR and an NYC Pacemaker.  The call went in to the yard office and the yardmaster and his assistant came out to take a look...and now there are three questions waiting for an answer.

1. Where's the 100 car drag?

2. What's the story with PRR car #95473?

3. What is Pacemaker #174587 doing in the yard?  According to the manifest it is supposedly part of an eastbound freight that departed last night.

  At the moment in this quiet section of the Oblivion yards what we have are a bunch of boxcars, a single locomotive waiting to depart, and three workers.  In a few minutes all of this will change, the scene will be overrun with people and bedlam will reign...so much for quiet.

Boxcars - an assortment of Ives, Lionel, Bing, Fandor, American Flyer, and Marx.

The round roof GN boxcar above is by Lionel actually. That is one of their best boxcar tooling efforts as far as I'm concerned.

Well here we are on BxCrSun and Robert S. Butler has given us a real portfolio of classic boxcars.  Thanks Robert.  My offering today is sort of a "follow on" to a story by Roger Carp and Mark Stephens titled "Short Term Interest- Developing the no 6050 Lionel Savings Bank" that appeared in the November 2021 issue of "Classic Toy Trains".  In that issue the authors trace the development of the 6050 and talk about how someone (unknown in the Lionel records) determined that the X1004 inexpensive box car could be turned into a savings bank by altering the mold with a coin slot.  The authors then have an excellent discussion on the development of the graphics on the car, which graced just one set in 1961 (according to the article, O-27 outfit #1643 the "Sky Scout").  Not too popular, the car was offered for separate sale in '62 and '63 likely to use up inventory and then was gone for all time.

Well, wait a minute!  In my varied searching of various sites on e-bay what should I encounter but a modern, version of the #6050 made by Lionel LLC,  labeled the 6050-25, carrying the product number 1-27946, named the "Christmas Savings Bank Car" and brought out in 2013-2014.  Candidly I am guessing since that is almost 8 years ago and we have not seen another car of this type, it was not all that popular this time either .    However, since I love the so called "plug door" boxcars of any ilk, here is the 2013 #6050-25 Lionel Christmas Savings Bank Car:

Here is the side view, note that the graphics are quite similar (not in color but in content) to the original 6050.  The Greek architecture columned bank with "Lionel Savings Bank" over the top on the right of the door and the three windows on the left match the original graphics.  Even the lettering over the windows still say "Savings, Teller, and Xmas Club" although in this version the "Teller" window has Santa Claus behind the counter.  The Lionel "L" inside a Christmas wreath is new to this car.  This car also has die cast metal trucks and two operating couplers.

Here you can see the handsome dark green and gold color scheme.  This new car is indeed much more colorful than the original 6050 which had only 2 colors printed on an all white car.

Here we can see the savings bank defining "coin slot" cut into the roof mold.

Here is the detail on the bulkhead end, good deep molded in items including a highly detailed brake wheel.  The box is shown and is typical of the window type boxes used by Lionel LLC, the Lionel licensee in 2013-14.

Well there you are.  Happy BxCrSun and "Merry Christmas" perhaps a little early but if you drop your coins in the slot on the top of the "Lionel Savings Bank" you might be ready to buy those presents. 

Best Wishes

Don

Have a great sunday all!

@Sitka posted:

Have a great sunday all!

The low lighting gives a good look to the layout Don .😎

@Sitka posted:

Nice Pennsy boxcars! Funny enough, I just pulled down my own set of those to run on the layout.

I have a small collection of PRR "Don't Stand Me Still" boxcars which I bought at my very first York about 5 years ago (where else, right?). I have several semi-scale K-Line cars, including one that has some gold details on it.

I really love that catchphrase, "Don't Stand Me Still". Not sure where it came from though, I tried researching it a while ago and came up empty handed. Any PRR historians know where and when the slogan came in?

I also like the MTH Premier scale versions of this boxcar. They have nice articulated couplers that track well at speed. I have a New Haven one as well, quite naturally.

This Premier car is special-- it's one of MTH's Operating Signalman cars! These are normally activated by shoe pickups. I've never used UCS tracks on either of my layouts, so shortly after purchasing it I rewired it to use a small pushbutton switch in the roof (top left of the car roof in this picture).

Here's the train running with an appropriate Pennsy locomotive. The last 45 seconds demonstrates the operation of the modified Signalman car!

Happy Boxcar Sunday everyone!

MTH WAFFLE SIDE.

D

.......and the boxcar designated graffiti for Judy's one puppy that passed.   

Auto parts boxcar.  

Two of my favorite boxcars.

One of my favorites.

Hello everyone, here we are again at "BxCrSun"  Today, I am posting my latest boxcar acquisition, two of Lionels' early postwar boxcar series, the "6454" series.  These 9 1/4" cars were produced in the late  40's and early 50's.  They have fully automatic couplers, rugged die cast trucks, a solid frame with included steps at each corner, add on brake wheels, sliding doors, and a  rugged bakelite body.  Livery, compared to the 6464 series, is plain being mostly brown, tuscan, and white but this was perhaps more realistic to the period.  They make great runners due to their weight keeping them stable but you have to have some pulling power to move a full train.  Anyway here are my new boxcars.

Here is the pair of them, the PRR one is new to me and the SP one is a variant of one I already had but the detail in the herald and the color is what sets it apart.  I will explain in a later picture.

Here is the Lionel X6454 PRR boxcar.  The car was made between '49-52 in total.  This example however having what the Greenberg guide calls Type 5 trucks dates to between '50-51.

Here is the SP car, in light brown (it came is several shades of brown) and a detail of the herald dates this car to one year only, 1949.

Here is the all important detail on the herald.  First the circular lines are "thin" compared with later variants and most importantly there is a break in the outer circle between the "R" and "N" in Southern.  This feature dates this car to one year only.  Later version have thicker lines and the gap has been fixed.

Well that's it for me this Sunday.  Best wishes for a great week to you all

Don

Great find, Don! I don’t know why, but those small early fifties boxcars are appealing. I do occasionally run an all scale train, but I love to run the small stuff, too, at times, like the two dome tank cars, and small stock cars. I need to seek some of those out.

Artie...thank you, I agree they look almost scale for the 1940-1960 period and they work on my little layout.  Today's 80 footers would not even go around my mainline!!  Those 2 domers are cool, and they should be relatively easy to find if you don't need mint in box.  Afterall real freight cars have a few 'bumps and bruises" right.

Don

Baltimore American Beer reffer by MTH.

Four box cars from the Weaver Train Company

Lionel's factory weathered woodside reefer makes quite a contrast to the postwar streamliner roaring past on the mainline. I wish Lionel would offer more factory weathered cars - especially in the traditional sized equipment.

Here is my Sunday Box car!

                                              2nd rare find this week!

My latest paintwork….

Tom

It is "Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend".

Boxcar for this fine Sunday!  CB&Q automobile boxcar.  Delivering automobiles back in the day before auto racks or the Evans Auto Loader.  

Good morning BxCrSun fans.  Well its a cloudy/rainy Sunday here in Central Texas so I can put off raking those leaves (again!)

Krieglok what a great job, and what model RR of my age could possibly forget the G&D...I spent most days after school in the 6th grade trying to duplicate it...not too successful but had fun anyway.  Doug W.  thanks for reminding us of important issues outside our world of toy trains and combining the trains with awareness of those issues is a great idea.  Trumptrain, another great set of pictures...who wouldn't want one of those Studebaker's today !  One of my best friends post HS had a "Golden Hawk" and I remember it well.

Well today, I have a small mystery - at least its a mystery to me.  On 31 October in this post I showed a blue CP boxcar, MPC Lionel #9748 from 1974-76.  It was a great car with handsome blue CP livery.  Now I knew that Lionel also produced a "red" and a "yellow" CP boxcar so I went looking for the other colors.  Well, I found (on e-bay) a yellow one and it was very inexpensive - I was the only bidder at $9.99 so I bought it.  When it arrived I found some very unusual features that I have not been able to get further information on so I am hoping that someone with more knowledge of modern Lionel can help me out.

First let me state right away that this boxcar from Lionel LLC is BY FAR a much higher quality car than the MPC 9700 series.  When it arrived I immediately noticed its weight ... even heavier than the X6454 early post war cars I posted recently.  The casting is excellent, deep detail, and thick solid construction.

Next, unlike the 9700 series, the predominant car number ... "CP 58700" is NOT the product number and does not appear in any Lionel product listing.  I finally found (note the tiny lettering to the lower rt of the door) which says ...made by Lionel, 2008-2010, #39308.  It turns out that this is the Lionel product number.  Using that number and looking it up in my reference guide, produced another odd comment...it was listed as the "6565" series???  Could this be Lionel LLC trying to show that the car is an improvement to the classic Lionel 6464 series boxcars from the 50's/60's??? I don't know.

Does anyone know if there are any other "6565" boxcars out there?   I certainly have not seen them or heard them referred to in this way.

Here is a close up of the end bulkhead, showing add on brake wheel and crisp car number lettering on the upper right.  Detail is considerable and is deeply cast including ladder and brake lines from the brake wheel including a length of chain.

Finally, the the crowning touch, the trucks.  These are far and away the nicest trucks I have seen recently and most certainly the nicest on a simple modern era boxcar.  They are fully die cast and they are actually sprung!!  You can see the tiny springs below the bolster which allow the truck to actually provide suspension and smooth the ride.  I can tell you that combined with the weight of this car (I forgot to mention, the underframe is also die cast not sheet metal or plastic) this car rolls and tracks beautifully.

So there it is, the Lionel# #39308 CP boxcar #58700.  Heavy bakelite cast body, die cast frame and fully sprung die cast trucks.  So called "6565" series.  A really marvelous car and a complete surprise (good one) to me...I solicit anyone who has further knowledge of these cars to comment.  I have no other data nor do I know if this is a one of a kind or part of a series.

Have a wonderful week

Don

Well BxCrSun fans, here we are again with a new Sunday post.  Last week we ended up with 5 really neat posts so I hope we can gather up those participants again.  I wanted to comment, Jim Sutter those are really beautiful cars both the B&0 and the Bessemer and Lake Erie.  Thanks for posting, I had never seen them before.

Today, I opt for a little unusual boxcar.  It was born as the Lionel #6470 in 1959 when the space race was still going strong and Lionel was looking for any potential action toy to sell trains. In 1959 & 1960, still as #6470, it was part of 2 uncatalogued sets, sold exclusively through Sears, Sears set # 9654 in 1960 pulled by a Boston & Main Alco AB and including a missile launching flatcar and Sears set #9682 in 1959 pulled by the #44 Army missile launcher.  In 1961 Lionel (for some reason) changed its number to 6480 but there does not seem to be any visible changes to the car.   It also does not appear to have been part of any further sets.  The sole purpose of this box car was to come apart!  Yes this is the "target" exploding boxcar that was supposed to "blow up" when struck by a missile.  In truth, I would think this thing was quite frustrating because I could not keep it together for one circuit around my layout, hence the very visible elastic band in the pictures.  Maybe it was better when new, after all its now almost 61 years old.

So here he is the Lionel #6480 "Exploding" Boxcar !!

Best wishes for a good week.

Don

Here is a mix of my latest purchases.

Tom.

First are two Weaver boxcars, stock paint jobs from Weaver. The C&IM car looked cool, so I bought it. The SBD car was cheap as two stirrups were missing. I replaced them with some pewter parts and painted them. The paint scheme is kind of unusual …

I also pulled a couple Postwar Lionel cars out of storage. An Erie boxcar and a Lionel reefer…on display with my small postwar collection…